In Heartfelt Memory Of The 911 Tragedy Midquel
by Bloodlustful
Summary: On the 10 anniversary of 9/11, I'm expanding my tribute to that tragedy of last year's September 11th by adding in this midquel, and some new characters. It's a bit long, but I hope it's a good tribute addition.


I decided that, since this is the ten year anniversary to the September 11th attacks, I would make two tribute fics. One I've already done, and the other I'm doing now. This is a midquel(not sequel, midquel)to the story "In Heartfelt Memory Of The 9/11 Tragedy" I made on last year's September 11th. You know, I thought I'd expand my previous one a bit both in terms of some of the franchises it contained, and the addition of a single new one. All in terms of characters, mind you. Plus, I wanted to explore the Pentagon as well as more of the World Trade Center this year, unlike the fic this adds to, where only the twin towers were focused on.

So I added to the mix Sid, Oscar, Lenny, Zeke, Crash and Eddie from the Ice Age franchise, Scorpion, Nitara and Kitana from the Mortal Kombat franchise, Padme, C-3PO and R2D2 from the Star Wars franchise, Mei Ling from the Kung Fu Panda franchise and Zira, Shenzi, Banzai, Ed, Nala, Simba, Sarabi, Sarafina, Kiara, Vitani and Kovu from the Lion King franchise! The heroes I picked, obviously, because they are heroes and to go with the heroes of the franchises I used before, and to add new heroes from a new franchise. The reason I picked the villains from the franchises I did, so it would all make perfect sense as to why they were used to show even the bad guys were affected by 9/11 as much as the good guys? Here, I'll give an explanation, just like with the previous fic this one expands.

As with Soto, Oscar, Lenny and Zeke became the way they did thanks to the deaths of half their pack by baby Roshan's father, wanting Roshan like Soto did for exactly that reason. So they, like Soto, are more tragic than they are villainous. Zira, though certainly insane and hellbent on revenge, was evil like she was due to the fact that her life was so messed up and she was left to rot in the Outlands simply for loving Scar, and since she wasn't QUITE as villainous as he was, there is a chance she became so loyal to him through seductive words on his part which made her fall so deeply in love with him. It's possible, even if not definite. Further, she did have a few, far between moments of sadness and sympathy on her part(such as grieving for the dead Nuka and being furious that Kovu's lack of action, at least in her eyes, helped cause his death). So it makes far more sense for her to fill this role than it does the aforementioned Scar, especially since much of her evil was contributed to by her pain, anger, hate, want of vengeance and high level of confusion and insanity, whereas Scar was just a selfish, greedy tyrant all around who never showed any sincere sympathy and was worse than Zira in pretty much every way. And the likes of Shenzi, Banzai and Ed? They became the way they did due to being banished to the Elephant Graveyard by Mufasa and for the constant lack of food, respect and high ranking status, not to mention the piss-poor conditions they had to live in. And don't even get me started on how Scar manipulated them and then sold them out later on. So again, it makes much more sense for them to fill this role than it does Scar, or for that matter, and ironically, Zira's aforementioned son, Nuka.

Anyway, I hope that this addition to my fic makes it better than it already is and is a good expansion as such, which can honor the victims who died in the World Trade Center tragedy of September 11th, 2001 even further!

Just for anyone who needs to know what fic this is an expansion of, here's the link to it:

.net/s/6315596/1/In_Heartfelt_Memory_Of_The_911_Tragedy

I own none of the characters. They all belong to their respective franchises.

**In Heartfelt Memory Of The 9/11 Tragedy-The Midquel**

_Dateline…The Pentagon…a national symbol in Arlington County, Virginia. Though on this dreadful day, it was not a symbol of any kind, but a victim. A victim of the worst act of terror and most loathsome criminal act in history. On the morning of September 11__th__, 2001, planes were hijacked by a vile group of heartless, monstrous terrorists, and the four planes which they got their filthy hands on and took over each flew to a different target. Two of them would bring down the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, crashing into them and causing explosions which eventually caused them to collapse, from which point on neither would ever be seen again. In addition to the towers, both the Pentagon and, chances are, the White House were targeted as well, even if the latter was the one target which hasn't been confirmed._

_In any event, and this was a very tragic, infamous, unspeakable event indeed, the Pentagon would be the third and last target for a plane to hit it. Though there were not as many Americans killed by the plane which hit the Pentagon as there were by the World Trade Center's planes, the amount of Americans killed in the Pentagon was still quite sizable, and they would be part of the virtually 3,000 innocent people who were killed on that day. All in the name of the unholy and hypocritical motivations and ambitions of Al Qaeda, the world's most vicious and evil terrorist group, and the groups monster of a leader, the despicable Osama Bin Laden._

_And be it the twin towers, the Pentagon or Flight 93, in which there were many martyrs who died after the terrorist pilots crashed the plane once they realized their target was missed, it is as certain as it is clear that even those of us who would appear to be the bad guys, the flawed ones, the vice laden or villainous individuals, know well what lines are not to be crossed. There is a certain line that even the most seemingly stained of us just do not cross, and both Bin Laden, his Al Qaeda followers, the ones who would aid him and Al Qaeda and, of course, the hijackers who stole, took over and crashed the planes, crossed far beyond it without shame, and easily so. As such, all differences are to be put aside, for as long as such a satanic evil exists in this world, it cannot be ignored. Even those of us with obvious flaws or bad points which stick out like a sore thumb can easily tell when something is not right, just downright wrong, no matter what, and whatever one's lesser principles, one still knows there are some things that should just never happen. Period. No exceptions. No matter what. And this is easily the top ranking one of those things which should never, ever happen at all, regardless of anything else. _

New York City had seen its share of grievers, and this was certainly justified, since even the seemingly villainous likes of Frost, Soto, Tai Lung, Anakin Skywalker, Shere Kahn and Draco Malfoy were able to prove they weren't what they'd been made out to be and had a bad reputation for as they both helped what innocent victims of these terror attacks they could and also cried for the loss of life, for none of them, even at their worst, would have even considered pulling such an act as this. Those who were once their enemies had now become one in both mourning for and trying to help the innocent, and their enmity turned to an alliance and sharing of pain, grief, sorrow and heartbreak.

But this was not the only area where such things as this were happening. Similar yet different individuals were done in Arlington County, Virginia, near the very badly ravaged Pentagon. As with the twin towers of the World Trade Center, it, too, had gotten a hijacked plane slammed directly into it, and the result was as predictable as it was similar to the results of the planes which rammed into the World Trade Center. It contributed to the nigh-3000 Americans who lost their lives on that day, and to the huge sum of billions of dollars in property damage. While far more were killed in the attacks on the WTC, the ones on the Pentagon were not to be ignored by any means whatsoever. And there were some unusual individuals helping with the Pentagon survivors and the horrid destruction caused to a considerable portion of it, along with the many firemen, police officers and the like.

They varied in species and appearance. To be precise, there were three saber-toothed tigers, who were rather small for their species, but consisted of one normal looking one, one portly one and one rather small one. There was also a weird looking sloth and two weird looking possums. In addition, there were three hyenas, two males, one female, two male lions, a gold one and a brown one, and six lionesses, four normal looking ones and two which looked quite distinct from any of their species in some ways, and were clearly outlanders. Along with this, there were two droids, one trash can shaped one, and one gold, humanoid one, a beautiful young woman and a Chinese Mountain Cat who was bipedal and wore kung fu clothes, carrying a long, bamboo staff. As well as a ninja spectre clad in yellow and black, a sexy, almost half naked vampiress and a princess who was clad in purple and brandished two steel fans as her trademark weapons.

Some of these individuals were well known for being heroes, while others had, for one reason or another, reputations for being villains. However, several things were to be noted right now. For one thing, EVERYONE, unusual or normal, hero or supposed villain, was helping to get the survivors to safety. In fact, it had already been done, and after no other survivors could be found, it was clear everyone who hadn't been gotten to safety, in ambulances or otherwise, was dead. And all of the heroes who had helped, as well as all of the seemingly villainous individuals, were crying as much as the ones in New York City, hero or apparent villain, had been. Yes, you read right. As with the ones in New York City, the ones here at the Pentagon had been brought into the real world from their respective fictional universes, and although heroes and supposed villains had initially been in entirely different areas of this region and gotten to know one another separately as a result, a change for the worse occurred when Flight 77 was driven straight on into the Pentagon.

What resulted was that both groups, who would never condone something this horrendous even when at their worst, even the ones who seemed to be villains, quickly tried to help matters as much as they could, and although things got awkward for a second or so when the two different bunches meant one another, they quickly put their differences aside, knowing well that there were far more important, more immediate and more urgent things right now than their enmity of the past. While helping the survivors, the two groups learned how both of them had gotten here and found out what they did about the real world, and what was going on right now, and as soon as all was done and they were thanked by the FBI, firemen, policemen, what have you, the everyday heroes in question took off to aid the survivors and were glad about having the heroes, while the apparent villains were also congratulated, and their past deeds were overlooked this one time. They also let them know what they'd learned about similar things going on in New York City right now before taking off, I should add. This shocked them all, unsurprisingly, and by no means in a good way for obvious reasons. In the meanwhile, nobody in the group of unusual individuals could possibly bring themselves to leave the burning, badly blown open Pentagon. Even if a repair crew and some construction workers would come to fix the damage done to it, this would not bring back any of the innocent people who lost their lives, whether they were in the plane that hit the Pentagon or the Pentagon itself when their lives ended.

And this, along with the knowledge of what had happened, why it had happened and why the people who were dead had died, made it so all of them, no matter how they differed or what sort of feud they may have had in the past, were in the same state. And that state was just the one that everyone in New York was in. They were crying. Real tears. With real sad feelings behind them. No exceptions at all, not even the ones you'd least expect to be reacting to this tragedy like this. The heroes were understandable, for obvious reasons, and even the ones that would seem to be villains knew there were many rotten things they'd done in their lives, but it still made sense that they felt as they did. After all, there was a certain line which even they would not cross, and this was well over that line by quite a few miles. Their vices were not going to overshadow the feelings buried under them. Not when thousands of innocent people were killed for nothing. Not when the worst possible atrocity imaginable had been committed without shame by its monstrous and cowardly terrorist suicide bombers. Not when the thing which could most bring out the good in them and cause it to cry out: "THIS IS NOT RIGHT!" has occurred! Even the most scarred or stained of us, the furthest from being anything like spotless, know there are certain things that are never to happen, no matter what. To anyone, least of all innocent people. And this was shown well with what was seen here.

First we see the state of the three hyenas, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. All three were pretty much crying their eyes out, and with good reason. Shenzi was going: "This…can't be possible. Sure, I'm not exactly perfect, and some might even say I'm no good…but either way, I would never stand for this for a second. This is far beyond any length I would go for any reason. For God's sake, some of these people could have had five children, at least! And they died for what? For being different? Lions may be our enemies, but you don't see them killing us for being what we are! Banishing us from their lands, sure, but never KILLING us! And least of all in way such as this! Have I done bad things myself? Hell yes. But NEVER on this level! Not a one of the ones who died in there had it coming to them at all…" Shenzi let the tears flow down her face and she ignored how they dropped down and wetted her front paws.

Banzai nuzzled Shenzi, who he was mates with, and vice versa, and after attempting to ease some of his lover's pain like this while dealing with the fact tears galore were coming out of his eyes and darkening the grey fur on his face, he told her: "I know, Shenzi, I know. This is too horrible for words, and absolutely unspeakable as much as downright inexcusable. I won't deny I have my own share of vices, nor that I've done my own share of dirty deeds." He looked back to the Pentagon and ignored the increased amount of tears cried as a result of looking at such a horrid piece of tragedy and atrocity once more. Shenzi licked Banzai to try and comfort him a bit, but it didn't do much for either of them, with how much pain they were feeling right now. "After all, I was always on the lookout for food, much like the rest of us were, I hated our living conditions and the place itself, plus the lions that put us there. Again, much like the rest of us. But though I have indeed done some nasty things in my time, NONE of it was ever even CLOSE to something of this magnitude! Pay lions back? Yes. Do so by slamming planes into their lands and kill everyone else present as a result? Fuck that noise. And that's with those we have reasons to hate. These people were just innocent people, for crying out loud! They did nothing but exist and practice a different religion! And for that, they are dead! For no other reason. Just for that one. This was an act of terror and unforgivable evil. Nothing more. I would never allow it, not even when I'm at my worst. I'm not what one would call a good guy, but I'd never let my bad traits go this high on the monster-o-meter!" He couldn't hold in his next rush of tears any longer, and let it come. Shenzi nuzzled him, and he licked her before nuzzling her back. Not that it made either of them feel any better, especially since Shenzi's tears mixed with his own, both before and after they rolled off their faces and fell to the ground at their feet, forming a puddle.

Ed, in the meantime, said nothing, since he could not talk, but much like Shenzi and Banzai, he was crying a whole lot. Tear flood after tear flood came out of his eyes, for even being as dense as he was, he could tell only too plainly how very wrong, horrific and tragic this was, and no stranger to injustice himself, he was unable to stand the fact that these people were to have lost their lives simply for how they were different than Osama Bin Laden and his revolting group of evil scumbag terrorists Al Qaeda would allow anyone to be. It was injustice through and through, and despite his stupidity, even he could tell that this was as unfair as it was tragic and as cruel as it was heartbreaking and satanic. He felt Shenzi and Banzai put their faces onto him to try and give him some comfort, and he licked them to try and make them feel less pain, but none of it worked for any of them, and these hyenas, though they were usually prone to laugh, were now doing just the opposite, and crying very sincerely and very hard with grief, upset, rage, sadness, heartbreak, fury and tearfulness.

Meanwhile, Zira was easily expressing as much lament. The amount of tears coming out of her eyes as she looked to the burning, damaged Pentagon, and as the knowledge of what had also happened in New York City, which had been told to both her and everyone else present by the everyday heroes as they took off with the survivors they would care for, coursed through her mind and spirit, was undeniably massive. She was strongly reminded of how much it hurt when she lost Nuka, and Scar before that, as many people had lost either their sons, their husbands, their fathers, their mothers or any other relatives and/or friends in these attacks, whether it was where she stood now or in Manhattan. "How?" she gasped as the fire at the Pentagon still burned before her teary eyes, and she could feel the essence of the burning remains of the twin towers even being miles away from them. "How can anyone even conceive of, let alone pull out, such an act of abominable atrocity as the one I'm seeing and knowing of now? Thousands of people, both here and in New York City, killed off in the course of two hours. No, not even two. And for a false, unjust cause of terror by the worst kind of terror's producers. Dear God, I've done some hideous things in my life, but NOTHING like this!" Zira shouted out the last few words as more tears flowed out of her eyes like mini-waterfalls. Her face was practically soaked with them, and it had been a long time since she cried this much, if she had even done so once in her life before now, that is.

Next, we take a look at the likes of the three sabers, Oscar, Lenny and Zeke. All three were as tearful as the rest of everyone present, hero or apparent villain, and that much was obvious. But they each had a different thing to say, though each one would signify and add up to the same thing, and evidently so. Oscar was going: "Of course I have my vices and lesser traits, but I would never have this happen. Not in my own time and universe, not in this time and universe or any other. For crying out motherfucking loud, these were innocent humans who had nothing to do with shit connecting to anything these terrorist scumbags wanted, and they were killed for living in the nation they did. For going to the places they did. For having the jobs and means of transportation they did. We sabers may hunt and kill in order to stay alive, but we would never see to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of animals at once in different areas just to make sure they were destroyed and for no other reason! You think prehistoric animals like us have savagery in them? Try terrorist slime such as this!" His tears did not stop coming from his eyes, and he lost track of how many came out as they hit the ground by his front paws, soon making a small pond, or so it looked.

Now, let's check out Lenny's view and part of this. Lenny was crying just as much as Oscar was, and he was going: "Dear lord, how is anything like this possible? Back in the Ice Age, of course we had to deal with disasters! BUT NATURAL ONES! One that no one thought up or wanted or could control, and ones that we could be ready for which happened on an expected basis in the expected places! CERTAINLY NOT ONES WHICH WERE PLANNED BY EVIL SLIME AND VILE FIENDS, DONE AT THE LEAST EXPECTED TIME AND IN A WAY THAT WAS SO DAMN COWARDLY, SNEAKY, TREACHEROUS AND FOR NO GODDAMN GOOD REASON WHATSOEVER! AND WHICH ENDED THOUSANDS OF LIVES ALL IN THE SAME DAY! Look, sabers like me and my pack are indeed killer predators! We need meat to live! But we just kill when we must eat, or, in rare cases, when we must eat and for revenge at the same time, but we never end as many as one hundred lives in one year, LET ALONE NIGH THREE THOUSAND IN ONE DAY! I've got a lot of undesirable principles, right down to my overly huge appetite and being hungry even for a saber. But even at the worst I could possibly be, I would not accept this! No one who was anything short of the worst of the worst would! The people here were just Americans. Normal Americans. Nothing more. And now they're gone for no reason other than that and happening to have been in this building at this time!" He could not speak anymore, for he had been holding back further tears for too long. He cried until he felt a bad, sore strain in his eyes and noticed he had drenched his face along with his front paws, but it didn't matter to him. Not when a traumatizing disaster tragedy like this was still in the running.

Finally, we see Zeke and how he dealt with this unspeakable crisis he saw before him. As he cried, with the tears increasing by the second, he stated his feelings very vocally indeed. "All right, this is by far the most horrendous, hideous and horrid thing which I have ever seen in my entire existence! And in any time or universe, for that matter! I'm far from perfect, I admit it! I'm impatient, eager to get down and dirty and in so many ways the very loosest kind of loose cannon! Especially if I happen to be hungry! I will deny none of that, nor how I can be annoying, even to my fellow sabers! BUT I WOULD NEVER DO ANYTHING EVEN SO MUCH AS COMPARABLE TO THIS, FUCK IT! GODDAMN IT, I HAVE DONE MORE THAN MY SHARE OF INSANE, CRAZY, DIRTY DEEDS, BUT NEVER ANYTHING OF THIS MAGNITUDE! NOTHING THIS EVIL! NOT A THING WHICH WOULD FALL INTO THIS UNSPEAKABLE CATEGORY! The motherfucking pieces of shit who did this are in a league of their own! Of course there's always been evil in this world! Some might even call me and my fellow sabers villains, and do the same for some of the other ones here right now! But this kind of villainous crime? This sort of terror and atrocity? Only they could possibly even think it up, let alone put it into action! Yeah, we sabers have taken lives, too, but only for survival, and, sometimes, payback, and nothing else! And never in a way such as this! And certainly not for any TRULY inexcusable reasons, least of all an unholy, satanic terror crusade like this one! I CANNOT FUCKING BELIEVE WE SHARE A PLANET WITH THESE MOTHERFUCKS!" After doing this, Zeke's throat was dry with both talking and rage, and his tears took the place of his words, flooding out of his eyes very rapidly and causing him to do pretty much nothing but breathe, cry and hurt. He and the other two sabers, along with Zira and the three hyenas, were perfect examples of how even the flawed ones among us still are capable of feelings. Still are able to grieve for the unjustly dead. Still, under all those scars and vices, have something of a soul. Still can cry, and do on occasions which one cannot help but cry, which this certainly was.

Zeke was nuzzled by Oscar and Lenny, and he did the same to them, but it didn't help any of the three sabers. For their agony was still there, just like it was still there with everyone else present at the Pentagon. The world is symbolized and represented not by towers, but by tears. Not by buildings, but by bone and blood. Not by concrete, but by compassion. Compassion which, in even those of us who would not seem capable of it, still exists deep down and can come out if the situation is terrible enough. And this situation was MORE than terrible enough. Worse. Worse than worse. Far beyond worse than worse. The voice which screams out in us all and yells: "This isn't right. THIS ISN'T RIGHT!" exists perpetually, no matter how much it may or may not be hidden or covered deep down within. And as was seen here, some things are far more important, critical and immediate than rivalries, enmities, feuds and the like. These ones who seemed to be villains, and who had reputations and histories which would suggest it, were not as evil as they initially appeared to be, nor as soulless and monstrous as many believed them to be, at least at the end of the day, when it got down to it and when they were truly put to the test. The sort of incalculable, unspeakable, unthinkable and inexcusable horror which was currently occurring both here near the Pentagon, and, as all knew despite not being there, in New York City, is the sort of special, one of a kind evildoing which affects us ALL, no matter how much we differ or how good or bad we may or may not be. One of the few things which is truly, truly universal.

Meanwhile, the heroes, equally in tears as the seemingly villainous ones, were seen giving their word on how hideous and devastating a tragedy this was as well. Their tears, as with those of their former enemies which they had accepted an alliance with and vice versa, were as endless as they were sincere, and as filled with grief, sorrow and rage as they were visible and numerous.

Scorpion, despite being a specter full of rage and hate, was still capable of being sad, and tears came out of his white eyes and went down his mask. He said: "Good God, I've been to the damn Neatherrealm numerous times, and I've never seen anything this evil. The place is my universe's version of HELL, of all places, for crying out loud! Yet I never saw something such as this! Such a tragedy as this! Not until I went into this universe on this day! Why do they have to keep on coming back, over and over? So many who lose their families? So many who are now without those near and dear to them because they were killed for an act of random evil? SO MANY LIKE ME! IT HAS TO STOP! And it will be stopped, starting with the death of Osama Bin Laden, whenever the HELL we fucking find the bastard! Both him and Al Qaeda having done this shows their kind keeps coming back, too! So many who perform random evil like this for power, self gain and for the sake of instilling fear in all. So many who turn innocents into hate-filled monsters like myself and make them hellbent on vengeance. So many who disregard all their evil deeds will do, cause and lead to. SO MANY LIKE THAT FUCKER QUAN CHI!" His tears, though boiling hot due to his hellspawn body, still went out of his eyes all the same, and they flowed down his ninja uniform in all areas.

Nitara was of course also crying, and while she did so, her eyes were closed, but she was still saying her word on how she felt. As the tears came out of her eyes and multiplied first doubly, then triply and so on, she hissed: "Dammit, as if it weren't bad enough I was separated from my fucking homeworld and had to go to great lengths to get back there, now I'm treated to seeing, in this real world, a destructive catastrophe such as this one? We vampires do drink blood, it's true, and sometimes we even kill our victims while doing so, but we would never allow for this to happen! EVER! Not even under the worst possible circumstances! These were nothing but so many multitudes of innocents who did nothing but exist in the same world as the monsters who did this! I may be no stranger to monsters, thanks to Shao Kahn and the like, but even in the worst of experiences I've ever had, I have never seen anything as abominable, unacceptable and unforgivable as this!" Nitara then allowed her tears to go from her eyes all the way down her body to her ankles, and she ignored how much they were now multiplying like cockroaches. She also sobbed: "I have a lot of vices, lesser principles and bad traits myself, and I'm anything but innocent in every way imaginable, but I would sooner eat a whole bulb of garlic dipped in liquid silver than help with, condone or organize such a travesty of a crisis as this!"

Kitana was crying hardest of all of the three Mortal Kombatants present at the Pentagon, and with good fucking reason, too. Besides the fact she was much kinder and nobler than Scorpion or Nitara, she was always one to try and help their be peace. So this blatant act of war was far too much for her, even as she had seen and endured many horrible sights through the thousands of years she'd existed. She was unable to stop incessant floods of tears from coming to her eyes and fell to her knees, as well. "For ten thousand years, at least, I have existed…" she said between her weeps and sobs. "And I have indeed come across so many disasters, acts of evil and horrid situations…especially where my father, Shao Kahn, is concerned…" She then put her hands over her face as she cried twice as hard, then continued her saddened sentence of weeping words. "But never has a one of them been on this level! Not a single crisis of evil I've encountered has ever been this abysmal! This atrocious! This immoral! This despicable! This loathsome! This depraved! This corrupt! This vile! This utterly irredeemable! And I've seen many things that would fit all of those less than favorable words! When will it end? When will innocents stop losing their lives to the insane, selfish, cowardly, oppressive ambitions of the wicked, cruel and unholy?" Unable to speak over how much she was crying any more, she proceeded to bury her face even deeper in her hands as her tears for the innocent dead kept piling up by the bucketful.

Sid, Crash and Eddie were just outright bawling. No other way to say it. While Crash and Eddie held one another close and tight as they cried into each other's chests, Sid was crying as he'd never cried before in his entire existence. He was going: "OH, MAN…I never thought I'd ever truly cry in my life, but now I'm doing it on a level I never thought possible! How can anyone be like this? How can anyone even think about doing this, let alone have it in them to carry the act out and perform it? These poor people…these poor, innocent people…what did they ever do to deserve this?" As stupid as he was, Sid could tell just how horrific and indescribably awful a scene and sight this was, and he was crying his eyes out increasingly with every second passing and each word he spoke. "WHAT THE HELL HAS THIS WORLD COME TO, I ASK YOU? THIS ISN'T WHAT I REMEMBER ABOUT IT, I TELL YOU! THIS ISN'T THE WORLD I GREW UP IN! SURE, THERE WAS DANGER, BUT THERE WAS NEVER THIS KIND OF DANGER, DEATH AND WICKEDNESS? WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHY? HOW CAN FATE ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN? HOW?" The sloth fell over and cried so much he was soon in a small pool of his own tears. He just couldn't speak anymore. He just cried like he never knew he was capable of.

Now, we take a look at Crash and Eddie, who were, as I said, embracing, and while their tears dampened the fur on their chests, Crash went: "Oh, God…dear God…my God…there is no God, or at least it sure as hell FEELS that way right now!" "It feels a lot of ways right now, none of them good!" wailed Eddie. "I mean, we usually do not cry, and maybe Ellie was an indicator of what it's like to lose one's family, but we never knew anything farther than that when it came to losing those you love, or unfair death, for that matter!" "But now we know it more than ever, and in a way which is as irreversible as it is heartbreaking and as tragic as it is disastrous and dreadful!" Crash yelled out. "Even the worst predators back in our time and universe, like Rudy, who ENJOYED terrorizing everyone around them, would never have gone as far as this! Or even thought of anything remotely comparable!" "But now look! We have scumbags who'd go this far, and even farther, if given the chance! Even if you take away this Pentagon disaster, there's still the two World Trade Centers to think about!" Eddie screeched. "We may not be with Ellie, or any of the other herd but each other and Sid now," Crash stated between tear flows, "but there is a chance we'll see them sooner or later! The poor, poor, poor people who were friends or relatives with the ones who died on this day will never see any of those friends or relatives again! For crying out loud, some of the widows of this tragedy were pregnant women!" "How will they possibly explain to their kids why they don't have any fucking fathers?" yowled Eddie. As the two possums were unable to hold in their grief enough to say anything else, they now just broke down in full and cried like they never had in their life. This was by far, by miles, the saddest of things they'd ever seen, and their tears pretty much showered them as they now held each other tighter than ever while embracing. Soon, they were completely drenched by one another's tears.

Mei Ling was standing and talking on her own, but crying so much she might as well have been surrounded by everyone else even closer than she actually was. She was going: "This isn't real. This can't be real. It can't be possible. It has to be a nightmare." But she knew it wasn't. She was doing her best to ignore how much her tears were causing her fur to become utterly doused, and she went: "I have never seen anything like this." She tried to wipe away her tears with her tail, for all the good it did her. They just kept coming. And who could possibly blame her crying as she was? This was the worst tragedy she could ever have seen, no matter what. And the fact that, despite loving to fight, she still felt compassion and remorse, made this all the more shocking and overwhelming for her, especially since she was a nice girl at heart. "There always has been evil in this world, and there have been those who do wrong since the beginning of time." she said with many cries in between words. "But there has never been anything this evil. I have never seen anything so horrendous, so terrible, so heinous, so remorselessly heartless, done in any sort of area in any sort of universe at all. All the threats the ancient China I once lived in combined, all the evil done in that time put together, would not possibly be able to amount to this in any way, and to say this is quite a statement for obvious reasons. I've seen some horrible things in my life, that's for sure, but this…this is just SICK BEYOND WORDS OR BELIEF…" She let more tears of sob, weep and cry before falling to her knees and holding her bamboo staff like a meditating samurai warrior, making sure her hands were at the top and it was facing under her hands, and she gripped it so hard it nearly got crushed as she shook with rage, grief and sorrow. "The evildoers of my own China certainly committed numerous crimes, sins and felonies, but not a one of them could possibly even begin to compare to this…never have I seen this much life lost at once…not even on the worst of days, and especially not in a manner such as this…" Now she just yowled in anguish and let her tears dampen a lot of her coat, clothes and staff before she just hit the staff to the ground and cried softer, but still just as profusely.

Padme was weeping a whole lot, and had not felt this heartbroken since she had lost Anakin, the man she loved, thanks to the corruptive manipulation of the vile Darth Sidious. And this was the first time since then she had felt this much pain and sadness, too. "Those poor people…they are exactly the kind of innocents Jedi and their allies are meant to protect…" she cried, and also added: "And they're what Anakin was defending before he was warped by Darth Sidious, and after he was free of it and redeemed himself…oh, dear God…how can anyone be this evil…how is it possible for such darkness to exist in this world…" She, being the kind, caring and sweet sort of person she was, could not stop the tears from coming, and frankly, she didn't even try to. She knew it would be pointless, and had no reason to do so. She felt for the victims, and when she realized how much of an impact this would have on those related to them, she cried all the harder, especially with it resembling how she and Anakin lost each other, and she later did not live to see her children. Her tears were so many, and she went down on her knees before she put her hands into her face and got them as wet as they'd be if she'd just dipped them in a bucket of water in seconds. She only took her hands off of her face a few times, invariably to breathe before she started crying for the dead of this terrible tragedy which was utterly incapable of being in any way altered. What made it all the worse for her was that it represented all that the heroes of her galaxy and universe meant to see to the end of while bringing peace, and this was most definitely the worst kind of act of war. It tore at her spiritually as much as emotionally and mentally. Long story short, and to put it bluntly, seeing the ravaged Pentagon and knowing what was going on in Manhattan was pure hell for her, right down to the fires which still burned now.

C-3PO and R2D2, meanwhile, were expressing an equal amount of grief, but in entirely different ways. R2D2 was making a series of sad clicks and beeps, while C-3PO, despite the fact that neither he nor R2D2 were capable of crying, thanks to the fact they were metal droids and not any kind of organic beings, was indeed putting his hands into his face and saying some very, very sad words indeed. "Oh, R2D2, this is just terrible, horrible and awful beyond any words or descriptions. Even if we've seen destruction and the evil of the dark side before, it has never been anything like this, nor done in any way such as this. Even when Anakin was turned evil, he still had some good in him, and I should know this better than most, since I'm his creation. But none of the horrible, dark side worthy monsters who did this ever had any good in them at all, and I never thought the day would come where I'd be this distraught, horrified and appalled!" R2D2 did many mournful clicks and beeps to signify that he was feeling just the way his fellow droid was, and C-3PO knelt down and hugged R2D2 to comfort him, saying as he rubbed the droid: "Yes, R2D2. I know…I know…" He hung his head and closed his eyes in sadness.

Simba, one of the seven lions present, had not cried this much or felt this sad since he had lost his father, Mufasa, thanks to the evil deeds of Scar. "OH, MY GOD…" Simba gasped as he let out his tears, now unable to hold them in no matter what, and he didn't even want to, nor did he want to attempt to. "I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD BE THIS SAD AGAIN, BUT THIS IS FAR TOO MUCH FOR ME NOT TO BE! These are tons of innocent people who are now dead, and many have lost their friends thanks to this. And their sisters. And their brothers. And their uncles. And their aunts. And…their fathers…THEIR FATHERS, JUST LIKE ME!" He cried a bigger flood of tears than ever, and while his mane was made extremely wet by his crying, he also said: "I never thought I would ever see anything as tragic as the death of my father, which I thankfully avenged. BUT I WAS COMPLETELY WRONG, and it is shown to me in the most saddening, sickening and infuriating of ways…how I wish I could shred the cowards who did this…how I want to rip Bin Laden's head off…" He normally did not have wrathful feelings like this, but what Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda had done went much too far for him not to have them.

Nala was crying very hard, and realized the last time she was this sad was back when she was a cub and believed Simba to be dead thanks to the sinister lies of Scar. The fact she was such a kind, loving, likable and caring individual only made a sight like this all the worse, and most especially since she'd never had to know of anything even remotely close to this back in her previous life as a lion queen. "This is beyond any words or description…" Nala wept as her tears pretty much darkened the golden fur on her face. "I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT EVIL ON THIS LEVEL, IN THIS LEAGUE, CAN EXIST IN ANY WORLD OR UNIVERSE, EVEN WITH HOW I HAVE SEEN DIFFERENT KINDS OF EVIL IN DIFFERENT FORMS, SUCH AS WITH SCAR! THOSE PEOPLE DID NOT SO MUCH AS DESERVE TO GET HURT, LET ALONE DIE! This world was so pure, wholesome and beautiful once…now it's just as dark as it is cruel, dangerous, unsafe and frightening…I have never felt this afraid, sad or furious in my life…or anything close to that…" She lay on her stomach, buried her face into her forelegs and cried a great many tears for the innocent dead and all who had to suffer because of this disaster.

Kiara was looking to the Pentagon and crying a great deal, not to mention saying a great deal that signified her sadness as the tears came out of her eyes and down her cheeks. "This is a horrible catastrophe which is in a league of its own. No, it's in a league of one. ONE. Because this is the only thing which could possibly reach this level of dark, black, unrepentant evil. No other ones in any world, not even the worst of them, are as dark, mad, cruel, monstrous and soulless as the fiends who did this. Even when Zira was at her worst and not joined with us to help here like she is now, she could not compare to any of the ones who hijacked those planes and flew them into the national symbols they did. I may be from Africa, and thus not an American, but this does not mean I can't be affected by this. We are ALL affected by this. Why else would those who were once our foes be here? Why else would I be crying as much as I am, and as much as anyone and everyone else here is, for that matter? No one except the most wicked, heartless and damned are affected by this in the worst way, and I just cannot bear seeing this evil. Many things are not right at all and completely unacceptable, but this goes far beyond either of those statuses!" She roared to the sky before crying harder than ever, and the tears from her eyes ran down her body, for she sat up in order to make her head go as high as possible.

Kovu was very much in tears, and although there was very little which could cause him to cry, this was easily one of the few things capable of such a seemingly impossible thing. "This is the most incomprehensible catastrophe I have ever seen." he wept as he allowed his tears to come freely down his face. "Yes, there has always been darkness and evil, but I never thought it could climb this high. I never thought it could be escalated this much. For crying out loud, what the hell is in someone, or for that matter, what ISN'T in someone, to be able to do this? To be able to cause the death of thousands upon thousands of innocent people who have never done a thing to deserve any kind of cruel death, least of all a cruel death of this magnitude? How can anyone possibly contain the thought, or even come up with it, let alone condone such an act and put it into progress? This is the first thing I see when I enter this real world from my own one? This is the first impression we're given of this new world we've entered? Appalling! Just appalling!" He then was unable to speak anymore and allowed his sad, mournful, agonized feelings to overlap him while he sobbed, wept and yowled for the severe, immense loss of life which had taken place today. Soon enough, he felt Kiara snuggle up to him, and they embraced, nuzzled and licked each other, but then, even with this slight bit of comfort, they still cried harder, for not a thing could possibly destroy or even decrease their feelings of heartbreak and anger right now.

Vitani was very, very, very saddened indeed, and the last time she was anywhere near this upset or torn up was when her brother, Nuka, had been killed by those falling logs. And the fact that she had seen nothing this evil ever before, not even out of her mother Zira back when she was insane and trying to see Simba dead, obviously only made it ten times worse. After many a tear went down her face and caused her fur to stick to itself and be flattened out by the liquid drops of salty sadness, she managed to speak with the words: "WHY? WHY WOULD FATE ALLOW FOR SUCH A CATASTROPHIC, TRAGIC, DISASTROUS TRAVESTY AS THIS? I will admit right off the bat that I am anything but perfect and without my flaws! Even as I am now a Pridelander, I can be rude or bossy, and I'm tomboyish, eager to fight and many such things. But I would never want anything along lines like what I'm seeing here! These people were as good as they were innocent, and they had families! Friends! Lives! Jobs! Futures! Everything one could possibly want! And now they're dead JUST FOR BEING AMERICAN PEOPLE! NOT A DAMN THING MORE! HOW IS THAT NOT INJUSTICE AND PREJUDICE? And these filthy hypocrites who claim to be doing it in the name of God…THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT GOD DOES NOT WANT ANYONE DOING, LEAST OF ALL THOSE WHO ARE OR WHO CLAIM TO BE DEVOTED TO HIM! I thought I had seen the last of evil when I defected from the Outlands…but I was wrong…I was so terribly, tragically wrong…those poor, poor innocent people…all dead…those close to them traumatized…I wish this was just a nightmare of the worst kind, but I know this is really happening…I can't believe this is really happening…" She dropped her head down, hung it and cried thrice as hard as she'd been crying before, with tears looking almost like a waterfall as they combined, fell from her eyes and rained on the ground.

Sarabi and Sarafina were both crying very mournfully, and the former had not been this tearful since the death of her husband, the aforementioned Mufasa. She said: "Oh, Mufasa…despite how sad I was to lose you and despite how much I've missed you since then, I didn't ever think that I would mourn anyone like I mourned you." She looked to the burning Pentagon after that, though, and then thought of what was going on in New York at Ground Zero, and once Sarabi did this, she talked on, with multitudes more tears escaping her mournful, sorrowful eyes now. Then she managed to whisper, with grief, pain and sadness still evident in her mourning tone of voice: "But that was before I saw this calamity of a disaster filled with death, fear and agony…oh, Mufasa…I sincerely hope your spirit isn't watching from the heavens right now…not when something this terrible is taking place…" She broke down worse than before and cried until her eyes were sore. It took a lot to cause her to even shed one tear, but this was much too serious for even those who were nigh impossible to make cry, and she was no exception. As for Sarafina, she was going: "This is the worst state I have seen the world in since Scar's destructive rule caused it to become all but a true hellhole, and this is at least five times worse…in every single way. Not the least of which is the loss of innocent life…why…how…this can't be true…" She was unable to say more than this, for she lost her ability to speak after all this thought and talk of what she was seeing caused her to break down and cry in the worst way. After she fell on her belly to the ground and put her head in her forelegs while crying for the innocent deaths which came to happen today, Sarabi nuzzled her, and she did so back, while Vitani was nuzzled by Kovu and Kiara, who she also gave a nuzzling to. No one's pain was eased that much, though. Which, given the circumstances, was not remotely surprising at all. All were feeling the same way, and this was the same way everyone was feeling around the world…sad and vulnerable.

Of course, in the cases of Scorpion, Nitara, Kitana, Zira, Oscar, Lenny, Zeke, Shenzi, Banzai, Ed, Simba, Sarabi, Vitani, Kovu and Padme, they were especially hit hard and capable of empathizing with the victims of this tragedy and the still living ones affected by it, for they were no strangers to losing family members, close friends and the like. Suddenly, the whole lot of them found themselves being teleported to New York City. How was this possible, you ask? It's because of the fact that, discovering them weeping by the Pentagon and wishing they could help further in New York City, even if they did not say so, with his telepathy, Kenshi, from New York City, had Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Draco Malfoy use their magical spells to teleport them from their current location into the location of Ground Zero, where the remains of the World Trade Center were now lying as a truly horrific sight and reminder of what had just happened here.

Everyone was surprised to see where they were, though one look at the mess of horror, death and destruction before them made it clear this was New York City, and they, for the time being, would disregard how they got there(they'd been teleported to where they could help in this city, not where the ones who were in the city and grieving after they'd done what they could to help were currently at, so they didn't know who'd brought them here right now)and do all they could to lend a helping hand in NYC, if that was at all possible, that is. Wasting no time looking about at their new location, nor even saying so much as a word, they dug through all the rubble and debris for any possible survivors, but as it turned out, when the ones in New York City, be it the supposed villains or the heroes, had done what they could, all survivors of the WTC had been found and helped, and these newcomers from the Pentagon in Virginia were able to, however hard they tried, find nothing but bones, corpses and the like. There were truly no more survivors to be found, and this tore their hearts in two, not to mention tore up their souls even worse.

"This isn't happening…" Nala gasped. "I'm afraid it is, Nala. I'm afraid it is." Zira told her former foe, shaking her head in sadness. "I wish it weren't…" "Wait…I smell something…" said Mei Ling, sniffing the air. "What is it, Mei Ling?" asked Padme. "Something near the front of Ground Zero, I think…" Mei Ling explained. "I'll teleport us there. See if it's anything we should know about." Scorpion stated. So he did so, applying his teleportation powers to both himself and everyone who was currently around him, and once they reappeared, they were all right in front of the original heroes and supposed villains who had helped with and grieved for the World Trade Center. Everyone recognized everyone at once. "DEAR GOD…" everyone in New York City, be they ones who were there the whole time or who had just arrived from where the Pentagon was, exclaimed. But one look from each group told the story, and everyone realized everything which everyone needed to know instantaneously despite no words being said. As soon as all was realized, connected and understood, and after a long moment of silence, both groups filled with heroes and supposed villains came towards one another, and here's what happened next.

Padme and Anakin embraced and cried into one another, with Anakin comforting his wife as she sobbed into his chest. And he cried just as hard, indeed, for it was only too certain they had been brought back together only because of a horrifying disaster such as this. C-3PO and R2D2 came to where they were to keep the two reunited lovers company, and every Jedi present, along with Han Solo, stood still and wept further, though more quietly than before, as the spouses embraced and vowed in silence never to be separated again. Mei Ling ran for Master Crane, and Crane flew to her, the two holding wings and paws while crying more. The rest of the Furious Five, as well as Tai Lung, Po and Shifu, simply kept watch of them while letting their own tears keep on coming. Crash and Eddie ran to Ellie and leapt onto her trunk, hugging it while crying, and also feeling the tears of the she-moth flow down from her trunk onto them, which they ignored the wet feeling of due to how much they were hurting along with everyone else present in this city right now. Sid dashed, albeit awkwardly, to Roshan and leapt onto his torso, with Roshan being quick to hug Sid and hold him tight to his torso, while Sid kept hold with a hug as well, and both continued to cry. Oscar, Lenny and Zeke ran up to where Soto and Diego were, and the two big sabers nuzzled the two smaller ones and vice versa, each one getting a turn, and all letting one another's tears mix into a puddle, for it signified how sad they were here, no matter how much any of them differed otherwise.

All this while Nitara and Cyrax went for one another and held hands, not thinking they'd be partners again after the first time they helped one another out, but knowing now they shared a spot in mourning for the victims of this terrible, terrifying tragedy. Furthermore, Scorpion went on over to Sub-Zero, and although the two were still well aware of their past rivalry, they put it to the side now, as this was far more important than any rivalry, and would be even if it weren't true they were both heroes who fought in a different way to end evil. While still letting tears go out from their eyes, not bothering to deny their current mood for shit, the two simply shook hands in a way that spoke a lot louder than any words, and made it very clear what the two ninjas were trying to put across to each other. Kitana looked to Kenshi, Sonya, Frost and Jax, and she gave a solemn kneel while still shedding tears. The three Mortal Kombat hero warriors and single supposed Mortal Kombat villainess warrior knew at once this was a gesture of respect to both the 9/11 victims and all affected by their deaths, plus a full showing of just how much everyone present shared the pain and grief they were going through every bit as much as the other one and next individual, and they all did a solemn kneel of their own in response. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Malfoy, Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera, Kaa and Shere Kahn all solemnly watched this happen and ignored how their tears still continued to come evermore. During this whole time, Simba, Nala, Kiara, Kovu, Vitani, Zira, Shenzi, Ed, Banzai, Sarabi and Sarafina also watched it happen and cried, as well as looking to each other while still crying. There was a long period of silence, but the looks in their eyes said it all. Even as Zira and the hyenas had been enemies before, and all four were enemies to the other lions, times had changed considerably. Just as the world had been changed considerably. Each former foe was a far cry to his or her former adversary from what they once were, and they were silent like they were for two reasons. The first, obviously, was that their faces spoke louder than any words, as did their tears, and, as mentioned before, said it all.

The second was that, even if such a thing were not the case, which it was, there would still be no words for what had happened on a fateful day such as this one. From looking to everyone who was not a lion or hyena to one another, this bunch saw, as did all the others with them here in the Big Apple, that for a disaster that could upset even the seemingly worst of us and bring those who were enemies together as well as those who were friends, and that enemies were to allies on this day, and the seemingly evil would not be a drop like they once were, with the good more like the heroes they were than ever before. Truly, there were no words for this. There were just no words. "I wish there was something we could say…" Nala said softly as she looked to the other ones who were either embracing, kneeling or standing, but were all still crying, of course. "As do I. But there is nothing…" Shenzi stated. "Because let's face the truth here…" Banzai put in. "For something in this terrible, horrific category…" Simba stated, and then Zira finished up with: "…there are no words." Though no one else said anything, all who were seemingly caught up in hugging, kneeling and crying among one another, heard this loud and clear as much as the ones in the closest vicinity of the lions and hyenas speaking did.

However, just when it seemed this tragedy of a disaster could not possibly get any worse, one final thing happened to make sure it became more horrible than ever, if that was at all possible. You see, the twin towers of the World Trade Center, this whole time, had been nothing but a pile of rubble and debris which was still burning. After all, this was nighttime on September 11th, 2001, and that meant there was nothing left of them but exactly the remains mentioned. But the little of their remains which still stood suddenly exploded and burned up thanks to how the last bits of fire combined, along with the methane in the rubble, and this caused soot and burning ashes to come down on that which had fallen on the ground and lay there, plus the fire burned some of that, too. After it died down, everyone was silent again, for seeing this had shocked them very badly. "THERE ARE NO WORDS!" they all exploded in unison after a few long moments of this silence. They cried harder than ever and were hit in the heart harder than before, many of them falling to their knees or doing something similar. They normally did nothing near this, or in some cases, didn't even cry at all for the most part, but this was already too much for even the least likely to cry BEFORE this last reminder of the morning's grim events took place.

However, they could feel the essence of God, and the hope his essence brought with it, down on them all the same, and he was clearly watching over them. Just as he had been all this time. They had done what they could to help, and later would have to depart from here, one way or the other. But for now, they just let themselves get enveloped in their own sorrow, and feel like they didn't exist for a while. They wanted this, as well. To feel like they didn't exist and never did, and they saw, and were, nothing but a black void. And they had every right to, now that they'd gotten one last taste of the terrorism and horror of this fateful, forever and eternally infamous day of terror, destruction, evil and death.

THE END

So, how did you like this midquel I made for the 9/11 tribute fic I made last year? Please rate and review, all! Make sure to never forget what happened on the tragic day that has now had its ten year anniversary! Remember forever the terror and death the 9/11 tragedy brought, and how good it is that Osama Bin Laden is dead and in the hell he's been long overdue for! May the victims who lost their lives be remembered with respect, and kudos to the ones who stopped the fourth plane from reaching its target and gave their lives to stop those wretched killer terrorists! Amen to all who died on that eternally infamous day of jihad and terror criminality!


End file.
